Usage / Role
22%
Rotational defensive role
lowfeatured
Player Dossier
2015-2018TCU
Niko Small
S • 5'10" • 183 lbs • Arlington, TX, USA
Ball-hunting defenderSplash play profile
Niko Small shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 21.7 disruption score.
Impact Production
80
High-end production for a safety
lowelite
Reliability
100
Regular contributor with several takeover games
lowhigh
Star Power
64
Useful peak profile
limitedstar
Career Arc
Value trend by season
Best season by Season Value: 2016 Postseason · TCU
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Snapshot
- Career Teams
- 1
- Unique Seasons
- 4
- Program Path
- TCU
- Peak Game
- Peak game by takeover score: Texas
Player Story
Niko Small built his college career from 2015 through 2018 as a safety from Arlington, TX wearing No. 2, spending time with TCU. The clearest part of Niko Small's career was his defensive production: 138 tackles, 3...
Read the story4★
- Committed To
- USC
- Commit Date
- Jan 1, 2023
Niko Small, S. Best season Best season by Season Value: 2016 Postseason · TCU. Niko Small shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 21.7 disruption score.
Stat Footprint
Career production snapshot
- Tackles
- 138
- TFL
- 3
- Passes defended
- 16
Quick Answers
Niko Small quick answers
- Latest team and position
- TCU · S
- Career Tackles
- 138
- Tracked sample
- 4 unique seasons · 7 entries · 29 games
- Best season
- 2016 Postseason · TCU
- Top game
- Texas
- Recruit profile
- 4-star · Friendswood · USC
- High school pipeline
- Friendswood · 18 FBS recruits · 0 drafted players
- Latest roster
- No. 2 · Senior
- 2018 Tackles rank
- 18 tackles · S 228th (top 49%) · Big 12 147th (top 36%) · National 2,070th (top 36%)
Season Ledger
Crawlable season-by-season stats
| Season | Team | Games | Tackles | TFL | Sacks | QB Hur | PD | TD | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 Regular Season | TCU | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | - |
| 2016 Postseason | TCU | 13 | 12 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | 48.2 |
| 2016 Regular Season | TCU | 13 | 71 | 1.5 | 0 | - | 9 | 0 | 48.2 |
| 2017 Postseason | TCU | 10 | 4 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | 25 |
| 2017 Regular Season | TCU | 10 | 33 | 1 | 0 | - | 4 | 0 | 25 |
| 2018 Postseason | TCU | 6 | 0 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | 41.2 |
| 2018 Regular Season | TCU | 6 | 18 | 0.5 | 0 | - | 3 | 0 | 41.2 |
Related Context
Keep exploring Niko Small
Niko Small played S for TCU. Across 4 tracked seasons, Niko Small recorded 138 tackles. His top tracked season came in 2016 with TCU.
Player insights
Lead takeaway
Best season by value score: 2016 Postseason
TCU paired 12.5 primary output with 36.2 efficiency.
Supporting note
2018 Postseason role shape
impact-led usage with 21.7 efficiency.
Supporting note
Career value stayed steady
2018 Regular Season tracked close to the prior stop by season value score.
Supporting note
Peak game by takeover score: California
Win with 1 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet. It landed in the 100th percentile of the selected season.
Analysis workspace
Season Workbench
Filter the strongest season sample, inspect game-level shape, and then drop into the full log without losing the story of the year.
Season Explorer
Understand the selected season before dropping into the full game log.
2018 Postseason · TCU
Games
6
Havoc Plays / G
0.8
Efficiency
21.7
Usage
4.2
Consistency
71.9
Best Game by takeover score
California
Hover a point or expand a game row to keep the active game context visible here.
Active game
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Game-by-Game Trend
Follow how the selected stat changes from one game to the next. Spikes mark standout outings, while dips show quieter weeks.
Chronological game order.
Game by game trend chart. California: 1. Southern: 1. SMU: 1. Ohio State: 0.5. Texas: 0. Oklahoma State: 1
Volume vs Efficiency
Each dot is a game. Farther right means the player carried more of the workload, and higher means they were more efficient with those chances.
Low volumeHigh quality
High volumeHigh quality
Low volumeLower quality
High volumeLower quality
Volume on the x-axis, quality on the y-axis.
Volume versus efficiency scatter chart. Southern: 5 by 30.8. SMU: 3 by 22.5. Ohio State: 5 by 25.8. Texas: 2 by 8.3. Oklahoma State: 3 by 22.5
Split Comparison
Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.
Wins1 · Games = 4 · +0.8 vs Losses
Losses0.3 · Games = 2 · -0.8 vs Wins
Game Log
Dense stat lines with inline explanations and season-linked highlights.
6 games
Featured metric
Havoc Plays
Top game by takeover score
California
Best efficiency game
30.8 vs Southern
Player Story
Niko Small story
Niko Small built his college career from 2015 through 2018 as a safety from Arlington, TX wearing No. 2, spending time with TCU. The clearest part of Niko Small's career was his defensive production: 138 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 3 interceptions, and 16 passes defended across 29 career games in the available record. His largest box-score season came in 2016 with TCU. Those numbers show where he fit, how often the ball or action found him, and how his role developed over time.
Defensive careers can be hard to read from one number, but Niko Small's production has multiple signals. With 29 career games in the available record, his career has enough shape to show both opportunity and production across TCU.
The arc is straightforward: Niko Small moved through the depth chart, found a larger role, and turned that opportunity into production that can be understood through standard football numbers.
Career Arc
Track team changes, role shifts, and season-to-season movement.
- 1
TCU
2015-2018
Opening stop
Season Value Progression
2015201620162017201720182018
| Season | Team | Primary | Efficiency | Usage | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 Regular Season | TCU | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2016 Postseason | TCU | 12.5 | 36.2 | 4.9 | 12.5 |
| 2016 Regular Season | TCU | 12.5 | 36.2 | 4.9 | 0 |
| 2017 Postseason | TCU | 5 | 20.4 | 3.1 | -7.5 |
| 2017 Regular Season | TCU | 5 | 20.4 | 3.1 | 0 |
| 2018 Postseason | TCU | 4.5 | 21.7 | 4.2 | -0.5 |
| 2018 Regular Season | TCU | 4.5 | 21.7 | 4.2 | 0 |
Signature Performances
Top Games
#1 Featured game
@ Texas
Week 13 · W 31-9 · Conference game
Win with 3 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
3
Havoc Plays
65.8 takeover
3 disruption/tackle impact with 65.8 takeover score.
#2
@ SMU
Week 4 · W 33-3
2
Havoc Plays
63.4 takeover
Win with 2 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
2 disruption/tackle impact with 63.4 takeover score.
#3
vs California
Week 1 · W 10-7 · Postseason
1
Havoc Plays
63.1 takeover
Win with 1 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
1 disruption/tackle impact with 63.1 takeover score.
#4
@ Kansas
Week 6 · W 24-23 · Conference game
2
Havoc Plays
60 takeover
Win with 2 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
2 disruption/tackle impact with 60 takeover score.
#5
vs Southern
Week 1 · W 55-7
1
Havoc Plays
57.5 takeover
Win with 1 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
1 disruption/tackle impact with 57.5 takeover score.
Top Seasons
#1 Season by Season Value
2016 Postseason · TCU
12.5 primary output · 36.2 efficiency · 4.9 usage
48.2
#2
2016 Regular Season · TCU
48.2
12.5 primary · 36.2 efficiency · 4.9 usage
#3
2018 Postseason · TCU
41.2
4.5 primary · 21.7 efficiency · 4.2 usage
Milestones
4
Impact games
6
Splash games
2
10+ tackle games
Next best actions
Keep exploring Niko Small
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